Last



1. M. MADIGAN;

LAST.

APPLICAHON FILED MAY 3. 1919.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

in R

specification.

UNITED STATES JOHN M. MADIGAN, OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 4, 1921.

Application filed May a. 1919. Serial No. 294,446.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN M. MADIoAN, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Haverhill, county ofEssex, State of Massachusetts, have invented Improvements in Lasts, ofwhich the following is a This invention more particularly relates tocertain improvements in two section lasts of the type shown in Patent#1114901 issued to F. W. Millay and myself, jointly, in which the lastis shortened by pressing the fore part section toward the rear and topof the heel-part section, so that the heel portion of the shoe will bepushed away from the heel section, permitting the shoe to be more easilyremoved. While this an rangement makes the removal of the shoe lessdifficult, yet substantial distortion of the shoe is necessary, topermit the heel part to be freed from the heel end of the last. Thisaction causes an objectionable strain on, or stretching of the upper andoutward bending of the sole, and, with a heavy shoe, it is difficult tobend the heel part away from the last sufiiciently to free it.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a form of last whichmay be substantially shortened by pressing the fore part toward the heelpart, so as to carry the heel part of the shoe away from the heel end ofthe last, and in which the heel part of the shoe may then be freed fromthe last without substantial strain on the up per or outward bending ofthe shank por* tion of the sole.

A further object is to provide a form of last of the above described, inwhich pressure on the shank portion, when the last is supported at itsends, will be successfully resisted.

I accomplish these objects by providing a form of last which may beshortened by a sliding movement of the fore part on the heel part towardthe rear end of the last, and in which the fore part may then be swungso as to swing the heel part of the shoe substantially free of the lastand by providing a form of last constructed as hereinafter described andshown in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 3 is a sectional viewat line;33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view at a similar point.

As shown in the drawing, the last comprises a heel section a and atoe-section I), said sections being divided on a common plane whichextends from near the middle of the shank portion at the bottomobliquely toward the top of the last and toward its rear end. The faceto thus formed on the heel section terminates at at, slightly below themiddle of the last, and the face w on the fore-part is substantiallyshorter, terminating at a substantial distance from the point 00, in thenormal position of the parts.

Said heel and toe sections are provided with oppositely disposed endfaces, y and a, respectively, arranged to extend convergently from thetop, the face y, on the heel part, meeting the face to thereon at w, andthe face a, on the fore-part, meeting the face w at 01:, obtuse anglesbeing formed at both meeting points.

The abutting end portions of the sections are longitudinally slotted, atthe middle line thereof, to receive a stiff metal plate 0,

of approximately circular form, said plate being rigidly fixed in theheel section by a pair of metal pins d and having a slot therein, aportion 0 of which extends parallel to the face w, and another portion 0of which extends obliquely to the portion 0 toward the top, in a shortare having the point 00 as a center. The fore-part section has a rigidmetal pin e therein which ex tends through said slot 0, 0 The plate 6 isalso provided with a slot 0 in which a coiled spring 7 is located, andsockets, a, b are formed in the sections a and 6, respectively, toreceive the end portions of said spring, the socket I) being somewhatelongated in an up and down direction, for reasons hereafter explained.A metal washer g is held in the front end of the spring slot 0 againstwhich the end of the spring, in the socket b, bears.

The plate 0 is formed to provide a shoulder 0* and a rigid metal pin itis fixed in the fore-part section in position to engage said shoulder inthe normal position of the last sections.

In Fig. 1, the last is illustrated as in posiand the sections in normalposition. As constructed, the face w, of the fore-part section, isadapted to slide on the corre sponding face to of the heel-part section,to shorten the last, this shortening movement being against the actionof the spring f which normally acts to hold the sections in normalposition, the pin a, by engaging the plate 0 at the end of the slot 0',acting to limit the action of the spring at this point.

In shortening the last, to remove the shoe, the operator pressesdownwardly and rearwardly on the fore-part section causing the same toslide in this direction, so that the heel part of the shoe is carriedaway from the heel end of the last, as indicated in the full lineposition of Fig. 2. By this movement, the front end of the heel-partsection is, in effect, pushed into the shank portion of the shoe, orinto the space which is usually left between the shank; of the shoe andshank portion of the last, at which point the shoe does not hug the lastclosely. This shortening movement of the fore-part section carries thepin 6 from one end to the other of the slot portion 0, and alsocompresses the spring f, and, as the motion of the fore part is bothlateral and longitudinal, and as the spring 7 is held against lateralmove ment by the sides of the slot 0 in the plate 0, it will slide onthe bottom of the socket b, to the opposite end thereof, as indicated inFig. 2. lVhen the corner, 9;, at the rear end of the fore-part engagesthe heel-part shoulder at w, the pin 6 will have been carried oppositethe slot portion 0 so that the downward pressure on the fore part willcause the same to swing down about the point w, as a center, the pin 6being carried into the slot-portion 0 by this movement, and the surface2 being swung close to the surface 3 as indicated by the dotted lineposition of Fig. 2. This downward swinging movement of the fore-part,about the point at as a center, causes the heel part of the shoe to beswung up, or away from the last bottom, this movement beingsubstantially increased by the fact that the shank end portion of thelast-heel-part section will act, to an extent, as a pivot for the shoebottom, so that its heel end will be lifted as the toe end is lowered,as indicated by the dotted line position of the shoe in Fig. 2.

The shoe is, by this time, so nearly free of the heel end of the last,that it may be entirely freed therefrom by a slight upward or outwardbending, so that the fore part of the shoe may then be withdrawn fromthe last. The operation of removing the shoe from the last may thus beeasily performed without injurious strainon the shoe.

It will be observed, in this connection, that the shortening motionnecessarily precedes the swinging motion, and that both motions areproduced by the downward and rearward pressure on the last fore-part, sothat the operation may be quickly performed.

The function of the pin it in engaging the shoulder 0 is to increase therigidity of the last when supported at the heel and toe portions anddownward. pressure is applied to the middle portion thereof, as in thebeating out process. lVhile the pin 6, by engaging the plate a at theend of the slot portion 0', has a similar effect, its location withrelation to the last bottom is such that its effectiveness in thisrespect is substantially less than that of the pin it, which engages theplate at a point near the top of the last, and rigidly resists anystrain of the character referred to, and overcomes a weakness in thisrespect to which hinged lasts of many other types are frequentlysubject.

The purpose of the washer g in the socket Z) is to provide an evenbearing for the spring and reduce the frictional engagement thereof withthe bottom of the socket during the relative transverse movementthereofz.

I claim:

1. A last transversely divided to form fore part and heel part sections,said fore part section being arranged to slide toward the heel end andtop of the heel part section, to shorten the last, and being movable toswing relatively to the heel section, when in shortened position, in adirection to disengage the heel end of a shoe thereon from the heel endof the last.

2. A last transversely divided to form fore part and heel part sections,said fore part section being arranged to slide toward the heel end andtop of the heel part sectlon, to shorten the last, and being movable toswing relatively to the heel section, when in shortened position, in adirection to disengage the heel end of a shoe thereon from the heel endof the last, and means to hold said sections against relative swingingmovement, except in the shortened position thereof.

3. A last transversely divided into fore part and heel part sections, toprovide normally engaging surfaces disposed in a common plane, andextending from the last bottom, in the shank portion, obliquely towardthe rear end and top, and terminating at a substantial distance from thetop, and oppositely disposed end faces extending convergently from thetop and intersecting said engaging surfaces at normally separatedpoints, to permit relative sliding movement of said sections on saidengaging surfaces, and swinging movement thereof when in shortenedposition, and means connecting said sections arranged to permit saidshortening and swinging movements, successively.

4. A last transversely divided into fore part and heel part sections, toprovide normally engaging surfaces disposed in a common plane extendingfrom the last bottom, in the shank portion, obliquely toward the rearend and top, and terminating at a substantial distance from the top, andoppositely disposed end faces extending convergently from the top andintersecting said engaging surfaces at normally separated points, topermit relative sliding movement of said sections on said engagingsurfaces to shorten the last, and swinging movement thereof when inshortened position, and means connecting said plates arranged to permitsaid sliding movement when said normally engaged surfaces are inengagement, and to prevent relative swinging movement thereof, exceptwhen in a shortened osition.

5. last transversely divided into fore part and heel part sections, toprovide normally engaging surfaces disposed in acommon plane extendingfrom the last bottom, in the shank portion, obliquely toward the rearend and top, and terminating at a substantial distance from the top, andoppositely disposed end faces extending convergently from the top andintersecting said engaging surfaces at normally separated points, topermit relative sllding movement of said sections on said engagingsurfaces to shorten the last and swinging movement thereof, when inshortened position, a rigid plate fixed in one of said sections andextending into the other section, and a pm fixed in the latter section,said plate having a slot therein to receive said pin, said slotextending in a direction parallel to said common plane and being offsetat its upper end to permit swinging movement of the pin relative to thefirst named sectlon.

6. A last transversely divided into fore part and heel part sections, toprovide normally engaging surfaces disposed in a common plane extendingfrom the last bottom, in the shank portion, obliquely toward the rearend and top, and terminating at a substantial distance from the top, andoppositely disposed end faces extending convergently from the top andintersectlng said engaging surfaces, at normally separated points, topermit relative sliding movement of said sections on said engagingsurfaces, to shorten the last, and swinging movement thereof when inshortened position, means to connect said sections permitting successiveshortening and swinging movements thereof, and a spring interposedbetween said sections and actuated to oppose the shortening movementthereof.

7. A last transversely divided into fore part and heel part sections, toprovide normally engaging surfaces disposed in a com mon plane extendingfrom the last bottom, in the shank portion, obliquely toward the rearend and top, and terminating at a substantlal distance from the top, andoppositely disposed end faces extending convergently from the top andintersecting said engaging surfaces at normally separated points, topermit relative sliding movement of said sections on said engagingsurfaces, to shorten the last, and swinging movement thereof, when inshortened position, means to connect said sections permitting successiveshortening and swinging movements thereof, and a coiled compressionspring mounted in one of said sections and extending to engage the othersection, to oppose the shortening movement of said sections, the engagedportions of one of said sections being constructed to permit lateralmovement thereof with relation to said spring.

8. A last transversely divided into fore part and heel part sections, toprovide normally engaging surfaces, disposed in a common plane,extending from the last bottom, in the shank portion, obliquely towardthe rear end and the top, and terminating at a substantial distance fromthe top, and oppositely disposed end faces extending convergently fromthe top and intersecting said engaging surfaces at normally separatedpoints, to permit relative sliding movement of said sections on saidengaging surfaces, and swinging movement thereof when the inner ends ofsaid converging surfaces are engaged, and connecting means for saidsections includingapin and slot connection arranged to permit relativesliding movement of said sections when said normall engaged surfaces areengaged and swinging movement thereof when the inner ends of saidconverging faces are engaged.

9. A last transversely divided into fore part and heel part sections, toprovide nor; mally engaging surfaces, disposed in a common plane,extending from the last bottom, in the shank portion, obliquely towardthe rear end and the top, and terminating at a substantial distance fromthe top, and oppositely disposed end faces extending convergently fromthe top and intersecting said engaging surfaces at normally separatedpoints, to permit relative sliding movement of said sections on saidengaging surfaces to shorten the last and swinging movement thereof whenin shortened position, a rigid plate fixed in one of said sections andextending into the other section, two pins fixed in the latter section,said plate having a slot to receive one of said pins extending to permitsaid relative shortening and swinging movements, and having a shoulderarranged to engage the other of said pins when in normal position, toresist transverse strain on the last.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

' JOHN M. MADIGAN.

